The Water Council got our start supporting water technology businesses in Milwaukee’s World Water Hub, and that remains the heart of our mission today. So it was humbling and gratifying to learn recently that we have been awarded a $2.5 million Regional Innovation Cluster (RIC) award from the U.S. Small Business Administration to continue building on that foundation as a mature innovation cluster.

Water and energy are inseparable – energy generation relies heavily on water, while water treatment is deeply dependent on energy. Through its BREW 2.0 Post-Accelerator, The Water Council supports start-ups worldwide that have uncovered new possibilities and are building purpose-driven businesses. One such example is GKinetic Energy, an Irish firm that has developed a flow-accelerating hydrokinetic turbine capable of producing clean energy from canals, rivers and tidal flows.

Dean Amhaus, The Water Council president and CEO, and Stacy Vogel Davis, communications director, attended SIWW as part of the U.S. Water Partnership’s Water Smart Engagements (WiSE) program, funded by the U.S. State Department.

Expanding into the US is an exciting opportunity for many of our international members, but tapping into the world’s largest economy comes with its fair share of challenges – not least building a team that can drive business growth. For this blog, I spoke with talent experts from the US, UK, and Europe, and here they share their advice, tips, and insights on strategic hiring practices for companies considering a push into the US.

Representatives of The Water Council are in Phuket, Thailand, as part of the U.S. Water Partnership’s Water Smart Engagements (WiSE) program, funded by the U.S. State Department.

This month, The Water Council celebrates 15 years as the hub Where Water Works®. We know there is so much more to come when it comes to solving global water challenges through innovation and water stewardship, but this is a good time to look back at what we’ve accomplished since our founding in 2009.

We are pleased to announce that we have hired Joe Ferrara, an experienced business development executive, as our senior consultant for WAVE in Europe. Joe will help introduce European organizations to WAVE and contextualize program benefits for operating in Europe, particularly in light of enhanced reporting requirements such as the European Union’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive.

When the Water Alliance, the Dutch water technology cluster organization, suggested we work together on a video about entering the U.S. market, we knew it was a good idea. For non-U.S. companies, expanding into the U.S. can be an exciting opportunity and a daunting challenge. The U.S. has plenty of water challenges, but it also…

Businesses in the Great Lakes region have not had a forum of their own to discuss water issues, encourage water stewardship and promote this valuable resource in our collective backyard – until now. That’s what we are creating, in collaboration with the Council of the Great Lakes Region, in Great Lakes WISE (Water Innovation & Stewardship Exchange), which held its first roundtable last week in Chicago.

Welcome to another edition of our Where Are They Now? series. Today’s featured company is really making the most of the programs available through The Water Council. In 2021, BloomOptix participated in the first cohort of our BREW 2.0 Post-Accelerator and started a pilot project in Wisconsin and New York through our Pilot Program. Learn about how those programs benefited the company and what it has planned for the future in this interview with Igor Mrdjen, BloomOptix project and science lead.